Human Resources is a relatively modern area of study, in comparison to the more established fields such as Business and Management.
However, the rise of HR degrees is linked to the rise of Human Resource jobs – as companies become more conscious of taking care of their employees, the more opportunities become available for those with specialist knowledge of human resource management.
So what type of jobs are becoming available to HR graduates? Here are just a few examples of where a Human Resource degree can take you.
Human Resources Officer
The most obvious career path for HR graduates is to move into human resource departments within businesses. These departments tend to have a wide array of responsibilities, so they offer opportunities for specialisation once you’re in post.
Typically, HR departments deal with payroll, internal communications, holidays, and anything else related to the quality of life of company employees. They are in charge of making sure the company runs smoothly away from normal production functions, as companies tend to find to their detriment that an unhappy workforce can lead to a lot of issues with the normal day-to-day running of the business.
Office Manager
Office manager roles tend to encompass a lot of the jobs a whole HR department deals with, only on a smaller scale. Officer managers are often employed in large companies, liaising between their particular department and the HR department.
For example, the marketing department within a business may employ an office manager to look after their finances and pay, before passing on this information to the company-wide HR department. This means they can be trained to meet their department’s specific needs, ensuring a smoother flow of information up and down the rest of the company.
Training and Development Officer
A large part of modern businesses is staff training. Companies want to know that their employees are up to standard, working in-line with internal and external policies. This requires the use of training and development officers.
As a Training and Development Officer, your sole job would be to ensure that staff are up to speed with the latest health and safety training, and have the correct certification for their jobs. Officers not only keep track of training records, but also organise training sessions when needed.
Recruiter
Moving away from typical jobs within internal HR departments, recruitment is another sector open to HR graduates. A good knowledge of human resources can pay dividends when trying to find the right employee for the job.
Human Resource Management courses not only teach business principles, they also teach interpersonal skills that can help you manage individuals. This is a great skill to have in the recruitment industry, as it will allow you to see past the CV and see what role is best suited to a candidate.
HR Information Systems Manager
These last two jobs require further study or training, but both are part of growing areas within Human Resources. As much as HR is about communication between people, as companies expand they also need excellent information systems to help manage their growing workforce.
If you have skills in IT management and design, you can combine that with your HR skills to build bespoke systems that can make the process of managing people across the world that much easier. And the more efficiently a company runs, the happier the employees!
Occupational Psychologist
Finally, you could choose to combine your HR degree with postgraduate training in psychology, which would open up the door to becoming an occupational psychologist.
Occupational psychologists work with employees to make sure they are happy within their careers. Staff issues could arise from stress, bad workplace practices, or being stuck in a job they don’t enjoy. Your HR knowledge can help search for solutions, and help your clients improve their employees’ mental health.
